1876Reputable sourceWell documented
Wagner, the Ring, and the Opening of Bayreuth
On the timeline · around 1876 · The Romantic Era
What happened
The German composer Richard Wagner reinvented opera as vast 'music drama,' binding music, poetry, and staging into a total artwork and unifying it with recurring musical themes (leitmotifs). To stage his colossal four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, he built his own theater at Bayreuth, which opened in 1876 with the Ring's first complete performance.
Why it matters
Wagner's harmonic daring and monumental ambition transformed opera and pushed music toward the breaking point of traditional tonality, profoundly shaping the composers — and the film scores — that followed.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Richard Wagner · Reputable source